Washington, DC - Ask Rusty: Doing a Breakeven Analysis

Dear Rusty: I’m in a bit of quandary trying to decide whether I should take my Social Security now at 62, or wait until some later time, like maybe when I’m 66.  I know that I’ll get less money by taking it now, but I also know that my check will be bigger if I wait longer.  I’m in pretty good health and don’t really need the money right now, but I’m just unclear about whether it’s best to wait, or just take the money and run. ~ Wondering

San Diego, California - Horticulturists arrived back at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park early this morning, after making one of many visits to local growers in San Diego County to hand-select the plants that will be placed inside the Butterfly Jungle aviary, in preparation for the Park’s annual springtime event. Butterfly Jungle will open to the public at 9 a.m. March 10, providing a one-of-a-kind-experience for guests as they walk through a rain forest aviary filled with thousands of colorful butterflies. All 250 plants selected this morning were chosen based on strict criteria to fulfill the food requirements of the more than 30 varieties of butterflies that will inhabit the exhibit.

Washington, DC - Today, the Energy Department announced $4 million to support three new cost-shared research projects focused on medium- and heavy-duty, on-road natural gas engines and $3 million to support two new cost-shared research projects for advancing fluid power systems for off-road vehicles.  These five projects are complemented by $5 million in early-stage research at DOE’s National Laboratories.

Washington, DC - Americans rely on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make sure our food supply is the safest in the world. The FDA is responsible for helping oversee about 80 percent of the nation’s food supply. Making sure that we continue to modernize our food safety system and advance our work in the important area of nutrition is a high priority of mine.

Washington, DC - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approval of a heart valve to include a size small enough to be used in newborn pediatric patients to treat heart defects. Specifically, the agency approved the Masters Series Mechanical Heart Valve with Hemodynamic Plus (HP) Sewing Cuff to include the 15-mm valve size, making it the smallest mechanical heart valve approved in the world.

Washington, DC - JILA scientists have invented a new imaging technique that produces rapid, precise measurements of quantum behavior in an atomic clock in the form of near-instant visual art.